Dua Lipa is ushering in a new era. After weeks of cryptic teasing, the three-time Grammy winner has finally unleashed her highly anticipated new single, “Houdini.”
On Nov. 1, Lipa announced the song’s title and release date in the caption of a post displaying the cover art. The announcement arrived after weeks of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it teasers sporadically posted to Lipa’s social media pages, a nod to the elusive air of Harry Houdini, the iconic Hungarian-American escape artist and illusionist from whom the song’s title derives.
With its twinkling synths and pounding drums, “Houdini” finds Lipa beginning to move away from the nu-disco love affair she began on 2020’s Future Nostalgia. “Do you think about it night and day?/ Maybe you could be the one to make me stay,” she sings. The new single features production and writing contributions for a slew of notable names including Kevin Parker, Tobias Jesso Jr. and Lipa herself.
“Houdini” marks Lipa’s first solo non-soundtrack single in two years. Since the release of Future Nostalgia — which spawned several Billboard Hot 100 hits including “Don’t Start Now” (No. 2), “Levitating” (No. 2) and “Break My Heart” (No. 13) — Lipa has appeared on just a handful of official releases. The most recent of those releases is “Dance the Night,” her Barbie soundtrack smash that could be a contender for a song of the year and record of the year nomination at the 2024 Grammys. The Mark Ronson-produced banger climbed to a peak of No. 6 on the Hot 100 and topped both the Adult Pop Airplay and Pop Airplay charts.
Listen to “Houdini” and watch the music video above.